US Embassy in Guyana warns of 'unconfirmed threat' on US-bound flights

GEORGETOWN, Guyana – The U.S. Embassy in Guyana warned Sunday that it had received "unconfirmed threat information" about a regional airline's flights from the South American country to the United States on Monday and urged Americans to avoid using the carrier.

The terse message about flights of Caribbean Airlines was unusual for being so specific about a potential threat, although it gave no details on the threat. The warning was posted Sunday on the embassy's website.

It advised all U.S. citizens in Guyana to make alternate travel arrangements through Wednesday if they were planning on traveling home on flights with Caribbean Airlines.

The airline's representative for Guyana, Carl Stuart, said the company has elevated "our level of security involving the police, the military and other agencies."

"We have been on this since Friday," he told The Associated Press. "We are on top of this and flights will continue as normal, but we are taking no chances."

Cheddi Jagan International Airport issued a statement saying that after being informed of the possible threat, it and the government's Public Works Ministry called a meeting involving security agencies and others to assess the situation. Authorities "adopted the highest security posture to protect passengers, crew, aircraft and airport employees and to ensure the continued smooth and safe operations at the airport," the statement said.

In 2007, a former member of Guyana's parliament and a naturalized U.S. citizen from Guyana were among four people convicted of participating in a failed plot by a small group of militant Muslims to firebomb John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York.